We drove out to more of the exhibits of Desert X over the weekend. What's Desert X? We've told you multiple times on the site, but here it goes again. Out in Coachella Valley, mostly close to Palm Springs, multiple outdoor art exhibitions are up for you to gawk at and take selfies with. There's a deeper meaning to the pieces you can read up on the
Desert X site, but think of it as temporary art in the desert; as it will be taken down in May.
First Off...
Before getting into the art...
Gotta say the Desert X Hub sucks. Taking place at the Ace Hotel is an understatement. You see, the TTDILA crew couldn't find it from the get go. We didn't know it's at the pool. It's a weird location to put it. The signs leading to it are vague enough that you might think it's at check in. It's not, it's near a pool full of people who don't care about getting Covid.
Oh, and it's a waste of time.
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Those windows won't be open with how hot it is Palm Springs
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Desert X Hub at the Ace Hotel
701 E Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs
Open Fridays – Sundays 10:00AM – 5:00PM
Stop by to pick up your Desert X 2021 guide, map of artist installations and get visitor information. Forget buying a t-shirt. Even though they have them hanging and bags and other cool stuff you can only buy them at another location. You can buy what is on the table in the images here, but not the clothes or bags.
The person working the booth also understood are dismay and found it weird as well. No stickers for us...
Note, on the shirt, those coordinates. Those volunteering/working there don't know where they lead.
When put into Google Maps you get
The North Pacific Ocean , which I hope were getting wrong, because if so, that's hilarious and dumb.
by Zahrah Alghamdi
This wall is a sight to behold in a city you should not be at when it's night. Located in Desert Hot Springs, not the safest places to be when the sun goes down, is a wall made out of what looks like bathroom mats and clay. It's eye-catching as it stands up in the desert just blocking the sun on one end. High into the sky, colorful enough to gran your attention or really any wall with nothing around it would.
Heads up, you've gotta walk a little on a desert path to get to it. It's worth it for just how strange it is up close and wondering how it's staying up and not tipping over. We doubt it would be around more than a summer or two just taken out by the natural elements. Bring plenty of water with you when visiting.
by Eduardo Sarabia
This small triangle maze structure is made mostly of what looks like wicker mats. You couldn't get lost in it and it's nothing like the hedge maze from The Shining, it's just a strange structure in the desert. It's also on an even shorter path, but the sand out there is akin to what you might find on a beach.
Down another desert path you'll see what looks like an easily attackable fort that really is an art piece for Desert X. A few long hallways and you'll reach it's triangle center with three large staircases for fun views and nice places to grab selfies.
Both these exhibits have deeper meanings that you can look up with the provided links. Your visit is your take away and what you want to get from them by researching a bit before going. You can take them as they are, strange wonders in the desert or deeper meanings that you can learn about online. But in either case they are meant to grab your attention.
Will have more of the Desert X places in the coming weeks, visit them freely with a trip, a few hours out of LA, in mostly the Palm Springs area.
Bring plenty of water. Though you are near a city with plenty of convenience stores.
